


How to be Strong

by theregoesjodariel



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Arcades, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, Slow Burn, don't worry folks the wlw princess/knight dynamics WILL be rearing their head, pearl is a MESS around women i love writing her, these two are neeeerds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 02:38:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18651223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theregoesjodariel/pseuds/theregoesjodariel
Summary: Human AU. Jasper and Pearl both have some pretty major hangups about relationships, which makes it all the stranger for them when they realize how good they are at getting each other out of their shells.





	How to be Strong

**Author's Note:**

> New fic! New fic! New fic!  
> So yeah, Jaspearl is one of my favorite ships and I knew I needed to write something for it. This was originally gonna be a long one-shot, but the ideas kept forming and now it's gonna be a whole thing. I'm trying to keep things light and fluffy, though I make no promises-- we may get angsty later. With that thought, I'll leave y'all to it. Enjoy!  
> Updates every other week!

The first thing Jasper noticed as she walked into Funland Arcade was that her head almost touched the ceiling. Not that that wasn’t something she was used to-- most rooms were cramped for her anyway-- it was simply that she was hoping the place would be more… spacious. Honing her hand-eye coordination would be harder in a tight space.

Well, “honing her hand-eye coordination” had been the excuse she’d made for herself to skip practice that day, at least. She knew the real reason she was here: Amethyst had dragged her into it. She had been vehemently against it, and yet… saying no to her younger sister was hard. She figured one day off wouldn’t be that bad.

Amethyst had seemingly brought her here in a misguided attempt to help her loosen up and relieve stress. Jasper appreciated the thought, since it was that grueling halfway point in the semester that was far from fun for someone involved in wrestling, majoring in art, and auditioning for a play all at once, it was just that she felt like she didn’t really…  _ need _ it. Spring Break was just around the corner, after all. 

“I still don’t see the point to this,” she said as Amethyst pulled the money out of her wallet to pay for entry into the arcade proper. “Video games have never exactly been my thing.”

The two were prompted to place their hands against the counter so the employee could fasten paper wristbands to them. As they did, Amethyst leaned against the counter. “Arcades are  _ everyone’s _ thing, Jasp. I’m sure you’ll find something to make you forget you’re a workaholic for a minute.”

“That… isn’t how anything works, Ame.” 

Their wristbands secure, the two made their way to the cabinets. Amethyst, though, stopped to place a gentle hand to Jasper’s shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. It’s just that, well, after last semester, I think you deserve a day off.”

Jasper shrugged and kept walking, her expression downcast. She hadn’t expected Amethyst to bring up what happened that past November.

But Amethyst was right; she had to move past that. 

“They… got any fighting games here?” She asked quietly. Amethyst just beamed in response.

* * *

 

“Woo! Go Pearl!”

“Don’t be too loud, Steven. You’ll break her concentration.”

And break her concentration he did not. Pearl was anxiously shaking her legs, her shoulders hunched and her eyes glued to the screen in front of her. Across it, neon lasers darted about, some of them seeking out the player and some seeking out their attackers. She was playing  _ Robotron _ and had reached wave 25: the farthest she, or, to her godson Steven’s knowledge, anyone who had ever been to Funland had got in the game. 

Behind her, Garnet delicately moved around the cabinet, recording everything on her phone for posterity and giggling softly all the while. Pearl was the most high-strung, perfectionist person she knew; she couldn’t believe she was applying that personality trait to play a video game from 1982. It wasn’t like she was placing on the world record leaderboard or anything, this was just fun to Garnet.

Pearl had no idea why people found this game difficult. It was actually very simple, all of the enemies clearly following very basic programming that could be observed and manipulated. It was not unlike fencing, or performing on a stage, in that it was little more than a set of pre-existing responses. She knew she was overthinking it, but it was…  _ fun _ . And it was nice to have a little fun for the first time in a while.

She was down to just a couple more enemies and one more human to save. After that, she’d be on the next wave. All she had to do was not blow it. She started moving to fire on the last enemy and--

“GRAAAAGH! How are you  _ doing that!?” _

The angry yell, seemingly emanating from the opposite side of the building yet still ear-piercing in its gruff volume, had Pearl startled. Her eyes went wide, her muscles went rigid, and, for just a second, her hands moved off of the twin joysticks. Shaking off the distraction, she focused back in on the game. But it was too late, as an enemy shot took her last life and knocked her into a game over.

* * *

 

Okay, maybe playing  _ Mortal Kombat _ hadn’t been a good way to relax. Her mistake. It wasn’t like she knew Amethyst was good enough at the game to  _ wipe the floor with her _ . Multiple times.

“Keep goin’, sis. I think we’re about to help the arcade get one of the secret characters,” said Amethyst, barely holding in laughter.

Jasper just huffed and stepped away from the cabinet. “I’d rather not. I think I saw  _ Darkstalkers _ on the way in here,” she grumbled. She didn’t want to get kicked out for shouting too loud-- that would be such an Amethyst thing to do.

* * *

 

Garnet placed a calm hand on Pearl’s shoulder. “Pearl, you’re overreacting.”

“ _ I’m not overreacting!”  _ replied Pearl, overreacting. She knew that it was just an old video game, but she was doing  _ so well _ . 

She’d needed a win, after the week she’d had.

She turned and found what she was pretty sure was the source of the noise-- two people bickering at a nearby cabinet-- and her legs made the executive decision to begin marching over to them. Behind her, Steven made a sound of worry; he’d seen Pearl angry and knew this would  _ not _ end well.

Pearl approached Jasper and Amethyst, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them, whose backs were still to her as they talked. She took a deep breath and coughed.

“Excuse me, I just wanted to say--  _ uh. _ ”

When the two people turned around, though, she realized she actually had no idea what to say. Maybe she did once, before making eye contact with the buff, dark-skinned woman that had apparently been the source of her distress. What distress? Was she angry? Jasper was huge and could absolutely kick her ass and no of course she didn’t find that beautiful about her and oh  _ stars _ she was gay.

* * *

 

Jasper was just confused at this point. Confused and, maybe, more than a little intrigued. If she was being honest with herself (because that had been working so well that day), she was convinced that the woman was… tongue-tied, something Jasper found more than a little cute.

“Uh, did you need something?” she asked, narrowing one eye and raising an eyebrow quizzically.

The other woman seemed to shake it off at hearing those words, getting her second wind. “Er, yes. I just wanted to come over here and ask if you could please keep it down? I was doing so well in my game and your shouting distracted me.”

If she were talking to anyone else, with the mood she was in, Jasper was pretty sure she would’ve snarled in reply to being told she was “distracting.” With this girl, though, she felt the need to go easy. There was something…  _ regal _ about the woman that made Jasper feel the need to tread lightly. “Oh, uh, of course! My sister and I,” she elbowed Amethyst, who had gone back to the game when she realized she was not the source of attention, “were just about to find something else to play.”

Reluctantly, she turned to look at the others. “Yeahhh, let’s just say Jasper here ain’t so good at-- oh, hey Pearl!”

* * *

 

Today was just full of surprises, Pearl concluded. She hadn’t expected the big woman to be accompanied by a coworker of hers. “Oh, Amethyst! Sorry I didn’t recognize you, you were turned away.”

Amethyst smiled understandingly. “Hey, not like I recognized you, either,” she said, her smile turning into a slight smirk. She slapped a hand to her forehead, realizing she had forgotten something. “Oh, this is Jasper! She’s my big sister who’s letting me live with her. You know, like I’ve told you about?”

Jasper-- good to assign a name to such a nice face, Pearl thought-- furrowed her brow. “Guess you just know everyone in town, Ame,” she said with a mixture of curiosity and mild astonishment.

In reply, Amethyst could only giggle. “Yep, guess I do. Jasper, this is Pearl. She works at the pawn shop. I think we all go to the same uni, actually?”

Pearl felt more at ease now, enough to thinly smile. “Ah, another BCU student. Our schedules must just be really different. I take it you’re on some athletics team?”

“Wrestling,” Jasper said enthusiastically, a toothy grin on her face. “You on a team, too? You seem like the ballet type.”

Alright, now her expression was back to neutral. “Fencing,” she said flatly.

Jasper’s brow furrowed and her eyes widened just a bit, having noticed the change in tone. “Whoa, that’s awesome!” she said enthusiastically, her tone communicating apology.

And like that, Pearl’s irritation dimmed to a manageable level again. How did Jasper do that? “Hah, thank you,” she said, “though I will admit that I did ballet in high school.”

Jasper chuckled. “I  _ knew _ it!” she said enthusiastically.

Just then, Pearl remembered she hadn’t come here alone. Thankfully, when she turned to check on Steven and Garnet, she found that they were engaged in conversation with Amethyst. That would definitely keep them occupied for a while. When she turned back to Jasper, though, she realized that the woman hadn’t continued speaking.

* * *

 

After that remark, Jasper went silent for a moment, during which she internally kicked herself at least a half dozen times. It had been…  _ a minute _ since she last felt an attraction this strong, regardless of whether it was platonic or romantic. She needed to remember how to properly ask someone to spend more time with her… Pearl specifically.

“Uh, do you wanna… play one of the games here together?” she asked on impulse. For once, the useless lesbian instinct hadn’t taken over; sure she had blurted the question out, but it wasn’t a bad idea.

And even better, Pearl’s face lit up at being asked. “Oh, sure!” she said, nodding enthusiastically. “Though I have to warn you I’ll probably have no idea what I’m doing.”

The larger woman leaned against the nearest cabinet, trying to look cool. “Oh, don’t worry, I don’t either,” she chuckled. “I was just about to go looking for  _ Darkstalkers. _ It’s a fighting game. That cool with you?”

Pearl answered in the affirmative. She turned back to the rest of their combined group, giving Garnet a thumbs up, and set off with Jasper.

* * *

 

The two found the cabinet Jasper had been searching for and sat down to play. True to their words, neither had any idea how to play, resorting pretty much entirely to button mashing. But they had no idea what they were doing  _ together _ , so it was okay. They shared little details about each other: how they were both in the same year and how they were both going to try out for the next school theatre production were both mentally noted. When Jasper asked Pearl what the deal was with her young charge, Pearl shrugged an explanation off--  _ that _ was not something she was prepared to share in her first ever conversation with anyone.

At first, they were just going to stick with best two out of three and call it, but that turned into three out of five, then four out of seven. In the seventh round, Jasper finally won, making sure to rub it in Pearl’s face liberally. With that, the two realized that they had been playing a while and both ought to find their friends and head home. 

Pearl found Garnet and Steven easily, though Jasper had no such luck with her sister; Jasper guessed she would just wait for Ame finish whatever game she was lost in. Pearl quickly made introductions between the boy and the woman wearing aviators and Jasper, which she reciprocated happily. Finally, Garnet informed Pearl that they had to go.

“It was very nice meeting you!” Pearl said. She cursed herself for sounding just a little  _ too _ enthusiastic.

Jasper could see this, and she found it absolutely adorable. “Likewise,” she said. “See you at auditions?”

Pearl nodded happily. “Definitely.”

And like that, Pearl was leaving, waving goodbye to Jasper as she walked out the door. Waving back, Jasper noticed something, a warmth on her face she hadn’t felt in some time. Was she…  _ blushing? _

“Didn’t expect you two to hit it off.”  
Amethyst surprised her, coming up and giving her an affectionate nudge on the shoulder. Jasper reacted to her words, and the rather suggestive way she said them, with a groan. “Today’s been nothing _but_ unexpected, Ame,” she replied.

Nothing but unexpected. She could get used to that.


End file.
